BANGKOK (AP) — Traces of cyanide were discovered in the cups of six people who were found dead at a Bangkok hotel in unexplained circumstances, Thai authorities said today, and preliminary autopsy results suggest they died of poisoning by the deadly, fast-acting chemical.
A medical team confirmed the presence of cyanide in the people’s blood, Chanchai Sittipunt, director of King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital in Bangkok, said today at a news conference. The findings are consistent with cyanide poisoning, and experts did not identify any other potential cause of death, Chanchai said. Initial results will have to be confirmed with further tests, he said.
The bodies of six people were found Tuesday inside Room 502 of the Grand Hyatt Erawan in downtown Bangkok, police and hotel officials said.
Bangkok police chief Lt. Gen. Thiti Sangsawang identified the dead as two Vietnamese Americans and four Vietnamese nationals, and said there were three males and three females. Investigators said the bodies were foaming at the mouth, an officer from the Lumpini police station said on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to release information.
The victims had booked several rooms at the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel under seven names, and some were staying on a different floor from the room where they were found dead, Thiti said. Police are still looking for the seventh person included in the booking, Thiti said at a news conference at the hotel.
He said there were no signs of a struggle. The residents of the room where the bodies were found were supposed to have checked out earlier Tuesday and their luggage had already been packed, he said. The bodies were discovered by a maid who went to the room after they failed to check out and found it locked from the inside, Thiti said.
There was food that had been ordered earlier from room service that was left uneaten, but drinks had been consumed, Thiti said. He would not confirm a cause of death, but said the deaths appeared to have occurred about 24 hours before police arrived on the scene Tuesday evening after being called by hotel staff.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin went to the hotel in the evening, and later told journalists that the incident was neither a robbery nor a random assault, and that it should not affect Thailand’s lucrative tourism industry.
Pending the results of autopsies, “Our hypothesis is that they ingested something that killed them,” Srettha said.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said U.S. officials are aware of the reports of the deaths of two U.S. citizens in Bangkok.
“We offer our sincere condolences to the families on their loss. We are closely monitoring the situation and stand ready to provide consular assistance to those families,” he told reporters in Washington.
By JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI and NAPAT KONGSAWAD/Associated Press
